Fresh from a 3-0 reverse against lowly Hamburg at the weekend, Borussia Dortmund are determined to carry on their good form in Europe. A game that pits a tired Dortmund side that have to travel to St.Peterburg, against a very well rested Zenit team. So the question is, with the first ever competitive meeting between the sides, will tired players with match fitness gain the advantage over players who have been on a long, long Winter break?
The home side haven't played competitively since December 11th, but have played 11 times since January albeit they all were friendly games. The reigning Russian champions qualified behind Atletico Madrid to reach the last 16 stage, and Luciano Spalletti's men will fancy their chances against a depleted Dortmund side. With Hulk and Fayzulin leading the line and Dortmund without Subotic and Bender, it's likely they'll push hard at home to try and gain an advantage to take to the Westfalenstadion, where BVB will hope they have more fully fit first team regulars available for selection. With Zenit currently sitting top of the Russian league and seemingly heading towards yet another domestic triumph, a European run would be another great achievement for them. They are without talismanic midfielder Roman Shirokov, creative man Danny and left-back Christian Ansaldi, the improtant trio missing out will be a sizable blow to their chances. However Zenit have strengthened in the Winter, bringing in Salomon Rondon, the impressive striker has been scoring plenty of goals in Russia, and will relish the chance to get a opportunity to shine at the highest level, should he be handed his competitive debut on Tuesday. Former Bayern Munich man Antatoliy Tymoshchuk had this to say before the crucial clash at the Petrovsky Stadium:
“I think everyone understands the overall picture. There are scouts who have specially watched Borussia's games. In the last few days we have thoroughly studied our opponents.” He would not be drawn by BVB’s defeat on Saturday, "That happens when a team is preparing for the Champions League," he said. “In the Bundesliga everything is clear, Bayern can be called champions. Dortmund are also focused on the Champions League, so I would not be surprised if they specifically left something to spare before meeting us.” Zenit have not played a competitive match since December, but Tymoshchuk was not worried, "We had two training sessions a day. We are very well prepared, the sessions were well organised and the team worked on high-performance tasks set by the coaching staff. So we are ready for the match."
BVB head into the game after the defeat to Hamburg, but more worringly, is the increasing number of players on their injury list. With Neven Subotic, Jakub Blaszczykowski and Ilkay Gundogan already missing the game, Sven Bender was ruled out for up to ten weeks after picking up an injury on Saturday. The Westphalians could also be without Mats Hummels and even Robert Lewandowski. While the others are all big misses, losing Lewandowski could be a travesty and a big blow to hopes of a first leg lead, yet is it anticipated that both could feature from the start. Dortmund had won their previous three games before their trip up North, and inconsistency is the last thing that Klopp will want to creep into his side, especially given their record in the Bundesliga after a European game. They can't afford to drop anymore points either after weekend results, as they are now just 3 points from dropping out of the Champions League places. Despite all the injuries and calls that BVB are in a crisis, they do have a fine record in this years competition and for the second year running, advanced from the group of death, Klopp's men will most definitely be looking to emulate last year's final appearance. Here's what he had to say in the run-up to the game:
"It's like when the washing machine stops working the dryer breaks the next day too, and then the TV." Klopp's outlook on the injury crisis, he then talked about the Bundesliga being 'boring', "We have a fantastic league in Germany and it's exciting starting from 2nd place because the best team of the world also plays here." He then moved onto the game against Zenit, "We had a very hard Champions League group and so did Zenit. We are expecting a very good team tomorrow and we have big respect for Russian football." Captain Sebastian Kehl added this, “I don't think it will be an advantage for us that Zenit are still in their winter break. It will be a tricky match, we don't feel like we are facing an easy opponent and of course we were disappointed and angry about our performance on Saturday. We want to try and do things better tomorrow.”
Stats
This will be the sides first competitive meeting. Interestingly, Zenit have never lost to a German side, winning 3 and drawing once. The same stat also applies to Dortmund's record against Russian teams. This is only the second time Zenit have reached the knock-out stage, the last time was in 2011/12 and they were beaten by Benfica 4-3 on aggregate. The Russians also are yet to win at home in the competition and have only won once and scored five goals in the group stage, both are the worst records in the competition. Dortmund scored 5 times in the last 15 minutes of Champions League games this season, more than any other side. Hulk has been involved in 80% of Zenit's goals this year, while Robert Lewandowski has been involved in 51% of BVB's last 35 Champions League goals (14 goals, 4 assists). Another boost for Dortmund is that Zenit have a chance conversion rate of just 6%, one of the few teams to be lower than themselves, which stands at 12.5%.
Predicted line-ups:
Zenit: Lodygin; Smolnikov, Neto, Lombaerts, Criscito; Witsel, Zyryanov; Hulk, Fayzulin, Shatov; Rondon. (4-2-3-1)
Borussia Dortmund: Weidenfeller; Großkreutz, Sokratis, Hummels, Schmelzer; Sahin, Kehl; Aubameyang, Mkhitaryan, Reus, Lewandowski. (4-2-3-1)
Referee: William Collum (Glasgow)
Zenit quotes from UEFA. BVB quotes from @SanBorussia and @bvbawesome.